To improve the green cover within the city and for better rain and more absorption of carbon dioxide emissions, the Salem Corporation is developing ‘urban forests’ of native tree varieties in all its limits under the Jal Shakti Abyan.
On Wednesday, Collector S.A.Raman inaugurated the scheme by planting saplings on the premises of the micro composting centre here. The Collector, Corporation Commissioner R.Sadheesh and other Corporation officials and staff planted 1,000 saplings in the area.
In a release, Mr. Raman said, “the urban forests will help conserve rainwater like in dense forests, retain humidity in the air and reduce soil erosion.” He added that much space would not be required for the plantation of native species.
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Mr. Sadheesh said that they planted the 1,000 native tree varieties on 15,000 sq.ft. in Seelanaikenpatti here and would plant another 1,000 saplings adjacent to it. They were also aiming to set up similar urban forests in each of the four Corporation zones. “In each zone, we are targeting to plant 3,000-5,000 saplings and in total we are targeting 20,000 trees within the city limits,” he added.
The saplings were being planted using the Corporate Social Responsibility funds and Easy Forests, an enterprise indulged in urban forestry, would maintain them for the next one year, the Commissioner said. S. Ramachandran from Easy Forests said, “native species of trees have been planted as per the Miyawaki method and like any other forests, these too will have five different layers of plants, but in different ratio.” He added that they used solid waste as manure for the plants.